Does Romney's path to the White House bypass Pennsylvania?

There's been much ado about whether Mitt Romney will make a play for Pennsylvania or simply concede the slightly left leaning - it's a lightish blue hue - battleground state to Barack Obama.

The evidence mounted Thursday when DC-based Politico got its hands on a PowerPoint from a Romney pollster that showed the path to the coveted 270 electoral votes requires Republican wins in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nevada, Ohio and Virginia. Notably, not Pennsylvania.

Meanwhile, former Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell, who isn't doing the Obama camp any favors lately, is baffled that Romney wouldn't try his hand for Pennsylvania. The Huffington Post was at a round table with Rendell in New York and reported that when asked if Pennsylvania was in play, the former DNC chairman and supposed Obama surrogate said:

"Oh, it is definitely in play," Rendell replied. He went on about how bizarre it was to read reports that Republicans weren't making investments in the state. "Can't be right. I mean why would you do that? And why would you make that judgment now?"

While the Romney campaign hasn't made much of an effort so far in the state - no ads, minimal staff - it did recently hire a state director and a communications director in Pennsylvania. Kate Meriwether, Romney's new state spokeswoman, said everything in campaigns change quickly. "We're definitely going to be at play in Pennsylvania and other states that aren't on that PowerPoint," she said.

In the next few weeks, she said, the Romney campaign will roll out more information about its efforts in Pennsylvania.